Gates wants to see more funding for a National Science Foundation program for math, science and engineering graduates students, and he suggested that at the high school level, math and science teachers should be paid more. He’s urging Congress to support state programs that measure students’ learning abilities.

“Ultimately, we need to identify a smaller set of clear, high and common state standards that reflect what young people truly need to know to be successful in the 21st century…,” he said in his prepared remarks.

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Gates also argues that the U.S. should raise the cap on so-called H-1B visas for skilled foreign nationals so that the U.S. can retain the high-tech workers it trains at its universities. “The fact that their smartest people want to come here has been a huge advantage for us, and in a sense we’re throwing that away,” Gates said.

In addition, he urged lawmakers to raise the current cap on employment-based visas, or “green cards,” and he called on Congress to renew the now-expired research and development tax credit..